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The collection of 241 clay tablets from the National Museum of Denmark was unraveled by the Hidden Treasures project. Among the findings are commercial receipts, lists of employees, and an anti-witchcraft ceremony recorded in Hama, a Syrian city destroyed in 720 BC. The catalog includes more than 100 unpublished manuscripts.
A set of clay tablets stored for decades in a technical reserve of the National Museum of Denmark finally had its content deciphered by researchers. The 241 objects, some approximately 4,500 years old, revealed a detailed portrait of the daily life of civilizations from the ancient Middle East, blending magical rituals, royal lists, and even a beer receipt.
The work is part of the Hidden Treasures project, which focused on studying cuneiform inscriptions present on small blocks approximately the size of a modern smartphone. Among the most remarkable findings is an anti-witchcraft ritual from Hama, a Syrian city destroyed in 720 BC, and a copy of a famous Sumerian royal list that mentions the name of Gilgamesh among the ancient rulers.
What was written on the clay tablets stored in Copenhagen
The Danish collection surprised researchers with the diversity of contents. Instead of being limited to religious or ceremonial records, the texts show the use of cuneiform in practically all aspects of public and private life.
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Among the identified inscriptions are lists of employees, administrative letters, and official correspondences. These documents prove that writing served the practical functioning of the State, and not just sacred rituals.
The most unusual of the findings is a beer receipt, which proves everyday commercial transactions in ancient Mesopotamia. The document helps to dispel the idea that ancient writing was exclusive to the religious elite and shows that it was already mixed with popular commerce for millennia.
How cuneiform writing worked
Cuneiform was produced by pressing a reed stylus against blocks of still-wet clay. Each wedge-shaped mark represented words or sounds, and the set formed the text desired by the scribe.
After being dried or kiln-fired, the board transformed into a support of extremely high durability. It is precisely this resistance that allowed objects from 4,000 or 4,500 years ago to reach the present day practically intact, with legible inscriptions.
The system was also not for restricted use. Cuneiform was used for inventory control, tax collection, labor management, and correspondence recording, effectively functioning as an accounting system that allowed the first cities to organize resources without relying solely on memory.
The anti-witchcraft ritual that protected the king
Among all the cataloged texts, the ritual from the Syrian city of Hama caught the researchers’ special attention. The ceremony described lasted the entire night and involved the burning of wax figures while an exorcist recited specific incantations.
The Assyriologist Troels Pank Arbøll highlighted that the aim was to ward off misfortunes such as political instability that threatened the king. The discovery shows that even great empires of Antiquity sought spiritual protection in the face of concrete threats like invasions, conspiracies, and internal power disputes.
The most sensitive detail is that these religious texts appeared alongside common administrative records. For those societies, governing involved both controlling granaries and collecting taxes as well as performing the right ceremonies at the appropriate time.
Why Syrian texts are so rare
Syria preserved a much smaller number of cuneiform documents than Mesopotamia, which makes each fragment linked to Hama especially valuable for historians. The tablets were found near the entrance of a large building, in a position suggesting hasty concealment.
The most accepted hypothesis is that the documents were stored during the military campaign of the Assyrian king Sargon II in 720 B.C., when the city was destroyed. Those who hid the texts likely hoped to recover them later, which never happened.
At least one religious incantation from Tell Hama was identified in the Danish collection. The find expands what is known about the spiritual life of the region during that period and offers a rare glimpse of religious practices poorly documented in direct sources.
Gilgamesh: mythical character or real king?
Another highlight of the collection is a copy of the so-called Sumerian King List, an ancient document that enumerated the rulers of cities like Uruk. Among the recorded names appears Gilgamesh, hero of Mesopotamian literature.
The question of whether Gilgamesh actually existed remains open among researchers. Ancient scribes treated him as a political reference and not just as a literary character, suggesting that he may have been a historical figure later mythified.
The inclusion of a copy of this list in the Danish collection strengthens the thesis that Gilgamesh has some historical basis. It is one of the few existing records that connect the hero to a possible concrete political context, according to the researchers involved in the project.
The complete catalog and the 100 unpublished manuscripts
The complete result of the study of the clay tablets was published by Museum Tusculanum Press in a catalog dedicated to the collection. The publication includes more than 100 manuscripts previously unpublished to the broader academic public.
The catalog is considered an important reference for the study of cuneiform and the historical period to which the texts belong. It brings together technical descriptions, transcriptions, translations, and contextual analysis of the findings, in a work that should serve as a basis for future research.
The combination of rituals, lists, and receipts in the same collection offers a rare portrait of a civilization that mixed spirituality and administration on the same physical medium. The discovery broadens the understanding of how these societies functioned in daily life, far beyond what usually appears in textbooks.
Digitization democratizes access to the millennial collection
The images of the 241 pieces were shared by the Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative, an open database used by institutions and researchers worldwide. The platform allows any specialist to compare a tablet stored in Denmark with similar texts from other collections without needing to travel to Copenhagen.
Digitization also reduces the risks of physically handling extremely fragile objects. A high-resolution photograph answers most research questions without anyone needing to touch the pieces and risk causing a hidden crack.
The movement of digitizing archaeological collections has been gaining strength in museums worldwide. It protects the originals, expands access to knowledge, and creates bridges between researchers who previously needed international travel to consult specific pieces.
The collection deciphered in Denmark shows that many habits considered modern, such as keeping receipts, listing employees, and sending administrative letters, were already routine millennia ago. The difference lies only in the medium: instead of paper or screen, wet clay was the available recording material.
And you, what do you think about these discoveries? Did you know about the existence of these tablets stored in European museums? Do you believe there are still many ancient artifacts waiting to be deciphered in forgotten collections? Leave your comment, share your opinion, and tag someone who loves ancient history.
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